Fire-extinguisher



No. 607,59l.

` Patented July I9, |898. 1. M. MILLER.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

(Application filed May 20, 1897.) (N0 Model.)

N q FKA I Q) o JOSEPH M. IWIILLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,591, dated July 19,1898. Application filed May 20, 1897. Serial No. 637,471. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. MILLER, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Fire-Extinguishers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lire-extinguishers, and refersmore particularly to extinguishers of that class in which the apparatusconsists of a portable receptacle charged with a suitable extinguishingliquid and gas under pressure ready to be brought into instant use whenrequired.

The object of the invention is to provide improvements in theconstruction and arrangement of the several parts of a device of thecharacter described whereby a more reliable, efficient, and convenientapparatus is provided at a minimum cost of manufacture.

To this end the invention consists in the matters hereinafter described,and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention embraces also a valve of novel and improved construction,the parts of which are so arranged and designed as to i render it moreeffective', reliable, and durable than those heretofore in use for thesame or analogous purposes.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 isa side elevation, with parts in axial section, of an apparatus embodyingmy invention. enlarged, of the valve controlling the discharge-outlet.Fig. 3 is a similar View of the valve controlling the air or gascharging inlet.

An apparatus embodying my invention comprises a receptacle of suitableform for convenient handling or transportation which is in part filledwith a chemical nre-extinguishing liquid and its remaining spaceoccupied by air or gas charged under sufficiently high pressure to drivethe liquid out in the form of a jet or stream which may be directed uponthe fire when the discharge-outlet is opened.

Referring to said drawings, A designates as a whole a receptacle adaptedto contain liquid and air under pressure, shown in the present Fig. 2 isan axial sectional View,

instance as made of cylindric form and provided with a slightly convexupper' end or cover a and with a flat bottom or lower end wall ct,surrounded by a depending base or supporting-flange a2; but it will beobvious that the exact formof the receptacle is immaterial so long as itbe a suitable one for the use intended.

In the bottom end wall is provided a iillingaperture Z2, through whichthe liquid is charged into the vessel, said aperture being conveniently,and as shown in the present instance, formed through a nipple h', seatedin said end wall, and the projecting end of which is screw-threaded andcovered with a screw-cap b2. After charging the receptacle with liquidthe screw-cap will be soldered or cemented in place to insure apermanently hermetical joint.

In the upper end wall or cover a, preferably at the center thereof, isarranged a valve (designated as a whole by C) forming the dis`charge-outlet of the extinguisher. Describing said valve in detail, cdesignates a seatring suitably secured permanently in the aperture a3 ofthe cover, said ring being provided with a radiallyoutturned flange c,which underlies the margin of the aperture, so as to insure asufficiently strong union of said parts to withstand the internalpressure. The ring c is internally threaded to receive the upper end ofa cylindric valve-casing C', which depends within the receptacle, thelower end of said casing being contracted and internally screw-threaded,as indicated at c2, to receive the upper end of an uptakepipe Cwhichextends downwardly within the receptacle to a point near the bottomthereof, and is preferably provided at its lower end with a screen orstrainer c3 of wire-gauze or the like. The upper end of the valve-casingis internally threaded and receives the lower end of thecorrespondingly-threaded valvebody C3, as indicated at c4. Saidvalve-body is of tubular form, provided at one side at a pointintermediate of its length or height with an outlet-nipple C4,suitablythreaded or othern wise adapted to receive a hose-coupling c5, andexternally threaded at its upper end to receive an end-closing cap C5.At its lower end said valve-body is provided with an axially-'arran gedsomewhat contracted inlet-passage c6, surrounded by a valve-seat c7 ofpeculiar conformation. That part of said seat immediately surroundingthe valve opening or passage is made conical or beveled, as indicated ato8, and surrounding this beveled portion is a flat seat portion o9,formed at right angles to the axis of the valve. Vithin the valve-scatare formed a plurality of annular or circumferential grooves orcorrugations 010 cu, one or more grooves being preferably provided ineach of said seating-surfaces. These groovesare each continuous orcircumferentially complete and are shown in the present instance as madeof V shape in cross-section and perform an important function inrendering the valve perfectly tight-fitting, as will hereinafter morefully appear. Vit-h the valve-seat thus formed is arranged to cooperatea valve plug or disk (designated as a whole by C6) mounted upon thelower end of a val-vestem C7, which extends upwardly and centrallythrough the valve-body and through the upper end-,closing cap of thesame.

In order to actnate the valve-stem so as to carry the valve-plug to andfrom its seat, the upper end portion of said stem is screw-threaded, asindicated at cl2, and arranged to extend through acorrespondingly-threaded aperture formed in a stirrup or bracket C3,which is cast integrally with and rises above the upper end-closing capof the valve-body, and in order that said stem may be convenientlymanipulated it is provided at its upper end with a hand-wheel C9,secured rigidly thereon.

y A suitable gland or stuffing-box is provided where the valve-stempasses through the upper end cap, said stuffing-box being convenientlyand as shown in the present instance formed by means of a disk ordiaphragm C10, threaded within the upper end of the valvebody, and arubber or other suitable packing C, interposed between said diaphragmand the inner end wall of the inclosing cap. The outer margin of saidpacking also extends over the upper end margin of the valve-body, andthus insures a tight joint between the valve-body and end-closing cap.

To next describe the `valve-plug' in detail, the lower end of thevalve-stem is screwthreaded, as indicated at d, and upon this threadedportion is first placed a threaded ring ol', which forms an annularshoulder adapted to limit the upper movement of the valve-plug upon thestem. An important feature of the present invention is to provide such aconstruction in the valve that the valve plug or disk shall be directseating or, in other words, will be drawn directly against thevalve-seat without rotation, notwithstanding the fact that thevalve-stein upon which it is mounted is rotated in order to advance itto its seat. To this end an antifriction- Washer cl2 is placed next tothe ring d', and the valve-plug proper, D, is provided with an apertureof sufficient size to permit it to move freely upon the valveste1n andis arranged to bear at its upper end against said antifriction washer.The upper face of said valve-plug is provided with a conical portion d3and a flat radial portion d4, adapted to fit the correspondingly-shapedportions of the valve-seathereinbefore described. Thelower end of thevalve-plug, which latter is formed of relatively soft rubber oranalogous packing material, is conveniently made fiat, and in order tocompress or force the plug firmly against the valve-seat a follower ordiskshaped head D is mounted loosely upon the valve-stem and is held soas to clamp the valve-plug firmly between itself and the opposing washerby means of a nut d5, threaded upon the extreme end of. the stem. Theinner face of said follower, which impinges against the dial-plug, isalso* provided with a series of annular grooves or corrugations d6, andin order to prevent the valve-plug from being expanded or flattened outradially to an undue extent said follower is provided with an upstandingconfinin g-fian ge dl, which surrounds the valve-plug throughout a por--tion of the height of the latter. After the several parts of thevalve-plug have been assembled upon the valve-stein in the mannerhereinbefore described a cap D2 is soldered upon the lower surface ofthe follower in such manner as to cover the end of the valve-stem andthe nut thereon and form a hermetical closure which will prevent theaccess of liquid to the interior of the valve-plug.

Referring now to the construction of the air or gas inlet or chargingvalve, (shown in detail in Fig. 3,) E indicates a combined nipple andvalve-body which is seated in a suitable aperture in the cover of thereceptacle, said nipple being provided with a radial flange e, whichunderlies the margin of the aperture and between which and an outerclampingring E', threaded upon the projecting end of the nipple, theportion of said covera surrounding the nipple is clamped. The projectingend of the nipple is provided with a closing screw-cap E2, and in orderto insure an air-tight joint between the latter and the nippleapacking-disk e is arranged within the upper end of the cap and againstwhich the upper end of the nipple impinges when the cap is screwed down.

E3 designates a cylindric valve-casing internally screw-threaded at itsupper end and engaged with a correspondinglythreaded portion upon theexterior of the valve-body E. The lower end of said valve-casing iscontracted and internally screw-threaded to receive the end of a pipeE4, which extends downwardly to a point below the normal level of theliquid within the receptacle, as indicated clearly in Fig. l.

e2 designates a bar cast integrally with and arranged to extendhorizontally across the passage at the lower end of the valve-body,

which bar is provided with an aperture 63,;

IOO

IIO

through which passes a valve-stem e4, the size of the aperture beingsuch as to permit the valve-stem to slide easily therein. The upper endof the valve-stem is provided with a suitable head e5, which serves tolimit the downward movement of the valve-stem, and the latter carries atits lower end a rigid valvedisk or follower e6, the upper surface ofwhich is flat and is arranged at some distance from the opposing lowerend of the 'valve-body. Between said valve-disk and said opposing end ofthe valve-body is arranged a rubber valve-ring E5, the verticalthickness of which is such that it will be held compressed to a slightextent when the valve-disk is in the position most remote from the endof the valve-body permitted by the length of the valve-stem.

The operation of the apparatus thus described is as follows: Beforecharging the receptacle the outlet-valve C will be closed by turning thehand-wheel in the direction to draw the valve-plug upwardly against itsseat, (in this instance by turning it to the right.) As the valve-plugreaches and is brought into contact with its seat the conical portionthereof will iirst serve to center the plug accurately upon its seat,and as soon as it begins to bear with any considerable degree ofpressure against the latter the friction between the seat and rubberplug will be greater than that between the washer and holdin g-ring atone side of the plug and follower and nut at the opposite side of theplug, and the latter will therefore cease rotating and be thereafterdrawn directly against the seat. The continued upward movement of theconical part of the plug within the correspondingly-shaped portion ofthe valveseat will compress said plug radially, so as to cause it toform an air-tight joint around the valve-stem, which passes through it,and will at the same time force the rubber into the corrugations in theseat. The still further movement upward of the follower will carry theflat portion of the plug into contact with the corresponding portion ofthe valve-seat and cause it to enter the corrugations of the latter, thecompression of the plug serving at the same time to cause it to assumethe shape of the corrugated inner face of the follower and enter thegrooves of the latter. The contining-iiange of the follower on the oneside and the beveled seat and corrugations in the unbeveled portions ofthe seat on the other side serve to effectually conline the plug andprevent it from expanding or spreading out unduly under suchcompression. At the same time the circumferentially-continuouscorrugations or grooves enable an air-tight joint to be formed withoutcompressing the plug to such an extent or degree as to permanentlyinjure it and prevent it from resuming its normal form when permitted bythe opening of the valve. Itis to be noted also in this connection thatthe internal pressure will tend at all times to force the valve-plugmore firmly against its seat and that inasmuch as the followeris free tomove upon the valve-stem and a space is provided between the extreme endof the latter and the sealing-cap D2 the follower may move up or followthe valve-plug should the latter be compressed to a greater extent bythe internal pressure than it had theretofore been bythe drawing up ofthe valve-stem. This is a feature of much importance, inasmuch as itwill be obvious that the internal pressure'might cause a gradualcompression of the plug for a considerable period of time after thereceptacle had been charged. The discharge-outlet having been thusproperly closed, the receptacle will be inverted and the proper quantityof liquid poured in through the filling-aperture in the bottom end andthe closure thereof replaced and sealed. The receptacle will now beagain righted, the cap of the air or gas charginginlet removed, and asuitable air or gas pump applied to the nipple. Upon operating theair-pump the air will readily force itself out past the soft rubber,compressing the latter sufficiently to allow it to escape into thevalve-casing and thence down through the inlet-pipe. When, however, thepumping ceases, the internal pressure acting upon the valve disk willcause the latter to compress the rubber valvering against the lower endof the valve-body, and thus form a perfect checkvalve, preventing theescape of air or liquid, and the greater the internal pressure the moreeffectual will the valve be. A suitable length of hose provided with anyordinary hose-nozzle having been'attached to the nipple of thedischarge-valve the apparatus will now be in readiness for operation andmay be brought into instant use by simply unscrewing thedischarge-valve, whereupon the pressure of the air or gas within thereceptacle will force the liquid out until the latter is discharged to alevel below the end of the uptake-pipe of the discharge-valve.

The provision of the discharge-outlet at the upper end of the receptaclerather than at the lower part thereof is of importance because, owing tothe fact that the liquid used is heavily charged with chemicals whichhave a tendency to precipitate, lthere is a liability that thedischarge-outlet may become obstructed and the device renderedinoperative or useless just at the time when the emergency occursrequiring its use if the discharge-outlet be located in the lowerpart,whereas with the construction herein described this is impossible.The provision of the gauze or strainer at the lower end of theuptake-pipe serves to prevent the access of any solids which might beprecipitated in the liquid to the valve mechanism.

The arrangement herein shown whereby all of the apertures of thereceptacle are trapped or sealed by the liquid is obviously ofimportance, since with this construction it is only necessary that theseveral valves or closures IIO be liquid-tight in order that theapparatus be kept in perfect operative condition and the full pressuremaintained,

I claim as my inventionl. In a valve, the combination with a valveseat,of a valve-stem arranged to reciprocate toward and from said seat, asoft-rubber valveplug mounted upon said stem so as to be capable of alimited movement endwise thereon, a rigid follower mounted upon saidValve-stem adjacent to the pressure side of the valve-plu g and alsocapable of free movement upon the valve-stem toward said valve-plug,means for positively retaining the follower upon said stem and asealing-cap mounted upon the follower and inclosing the end of thevalve-stem,

the form of said cap being such as to permit the necessary limitedmovement of the follower upon the stem.

2. A cheek-valve comprising a valve-body provided with a passagetherethrough, a seat surrounding said passage, a stem guided toreciprocate toward and from said seat, a rigid valve-disk or followermounted upon the stem at a distance from the valve-seat and a softrubberor analogous valve-ring interposed between the disk and valve-seat, saiddisk being free to move up toward the valve-seat but held positivelyfrom movement in the opposite direction beyond a determined position,

said position being such as to hold the valvering under compression.

3. A check-valve comprising a valve-body provided with a passagetherethrough, a seat surrounding said passage, a bar or supportextending across the passage, a valve-stem arranged to reciprocatethrough said bar and arranged to vproject at one end beyond thevalve-seat and provided at its opposite end with a stop adapted tocontact with the guidebar and limit its movement, in one direction, arigid valve-disk or follower mounted upon said stem at a distance fromthe valve-seat and a soft-rubber or analogous valve-ring iuterposedbetween the disk and valve-seat, said' disk being free to move up towardthe valve-seat but held positively from movement in the oppositedirection beyond a determined position, which position is such as tohold the valve-ring at all times under compression.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 10th vday ofMay, A. D. 1897.

JOSEPH M. MILLER.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. CARTER, ALBERT H. GRAVES.

